Automatic electric valve



(No Mode1.) 7

0. J. HEXAMER.

AUTOMATIG ELECTRIO VALVE. I Patented Jan. 17/1888.

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- NITED STATES PATENT rrrcE AUTOM-AT'IC ELECTRIC VALVE.

SPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 376,651, dated January17, 1888.

Application filed October 4, 1887.

T0 aZZ whom il? may concern: v

Be it known that I, CHARLES JOHN HEX- AMER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at the city and county of Philadelphia,and State ofPennsylvan'ia, have invented certain new and useful Irnprovements inDevices for Automatically Regulatng the Flow of Liquids to and fromVessels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompauying drawings, of which-- Figure 1 isa transverse vertical section of a hop and wort boiler hziving myinvention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a face view, enlarged, of the clockfor closing and brcaking the;electrio circuit. Fig. 3 is an edge viewthereoi. Fig.4 is a view of acontact-pin detached.

The natureof this invention is a clock system for automatic'allyregulatirig the flow of liquids to and from breWing-vats, boilers,cisterns, and other lik vessels,whereb the boil- -discharge from thevessel of the liquid contents thereof xvhen boiled or otherWisc suitablyacted upon, and the subsequent delivery into said vessel of liquid tobeso acted upon.

The invention consists, also,in the combi. nation, with said vessel andthe supply and discharge pipes thereof, of elctrically-controlled valveson said pipes, an electric circuit, and a clock or clocks adapted toperiodically close and break said circuit in Ordcr to open and closesaid valves, as hereinafter set forth.

The invention consists, also, in the combination, with a clock forperiodically closing and breaking an electric circuit, of the clockdialprovided with a hole or series of holesin the path of the hand or bauds,a pin or pins connected with one end of the electric circuit and adaptedto be inserted inz'said hole or holes, the other end of the circuitbeing con-' nected with said hands,whcreby cither of theSerialNo.25l,392. (No model.) 7

-resents au ordinary wort and hop boiler used in brewing; B and C,thesupply and discharge I pipes thereof, respectively; D,the usualwater-heating tank, located above the boiler, for

the purpose of economizing the heat; 'E, the

furnace, and E'the flue. The pipes B 0 are provided with valves b.

c, respectively, which have each secured to A the ends of their stems 00the armaturesF of adjacentclectro-magnets G. Thecircuit-wires r H, withwhich these magnets are connected,

are normally broken ata clock or .regulator, I, which is so constructedthat it may be set to complete the circuit at a certain time,in or-- derthat' the electric Current may be trans- *mitted t0 cither. of saidmagnets G, to open or Although docks of other constructions may beemployed t0 periodially break and close the elcctric circuit, I haveparticularly devised for this' purpose, and prefer, a clock of thefollowing construction:

Around the path of the minutehtndi,near V theedge of the dial 'i is aseriesof equidis-- tant holes, 73', preferabl'ysixty in number, 'reprcscnting sixty minutes, and below these holes, in the path of thehourhand 2', is anOther series of like holes, zusually twclve in number, representing twelve hours. Adapted to be inserted in these holesare pins J, t0

which are attached, by mearis of' bindingscrews sorotherwise, the endsof the circuitwires h,leading to the magnets G, with which magnets thesaid pins correspond in number.

The end of the main circuit H, with'which the wires h are connected, isin contact with the arbor i of the hands i i*. Now, it will be seen thatby inserting thepins J in the holes 13 or t", ai; intervals apart, theminute-hand or) hour-hand will in its rotation corne gentlyinto contactwith and ride over the same, and thus complete and break the circuitsuccessively, thereby trausmitting the electric current generated in thebattery K to. the magnets G, which will likewise open and close thevalves 'b 0'.

The pins J are so inserted in the hOles z' i that the hands will comeinto contact with them (the pius) at predetermined intervals, in orderto open and close the respective valves in proper successionthat is tosay, when the time necessary for the liquid to have been properlyboiled, &c., bas elapsed, one of the handssay the minute-handwill comeinto contact with the pin j and complete the electrie circuit with themagnet 9', which willattract thereto the adjacent armature f on the stemof valve 0 of the discharge-pipe C, and thereby open said valve andallow the prepared liquid t0 escape. After a sufficient intervalsayfourteen minutesnecessary for the escape of said liquid, the baud willcome into contact with the pinj and complete the circuit with the magnetg", which will attract thereto the other armature, f, on said stem ofvalve 0, and thus close the latter. The baud i will immediatelythereafter come into contact with the pin j and complete the circuitwith the magnet 9, which will attract thereto the adjacent armature f onthe stem of valve I) of the supply-pipe B,and thereby "open said valveand allow the liquid to flow into the vessel A. After the predeterminedti me necessary for the proper preparation of the liquid has elapsed,the hand i will come into contact with the pin j and complete thecircuit with the magnet 9*, which will likewise attract thereto theother armature, f, on the stem of valve 2) and Close the latter. Theliqnid is now boiled, mixed,-or otherwise acted npon until the handagain cornes into contact with the pin j, when the operations justdescribed will be repeated. Of course the pins J are removed andproperly reinserted as occasion may require.

If an interval of an hour or more be required between the opening andclosing of either of the valves bc, the pins J areinserted in thehour-holes 43 When the dial-plate 73 is made of inetal or other electricconductor, I inslate the arbor therefrom by inserting a rubber ring, i,or other likenon-conducting material, in the central hole, F, and coverthe pins J with a suitable insulating material; or, instead of thuscovering these pins, I sometimes insert rings of rubber or like materialin the holes z'' 4?, which efiect the same purpose.

I do not restrict myself to the special devices above describedforperiodically opening A and closing the valves of the supply anddischarge pipes of boilers, &c., as the clock may be set toautomatically trip mechanical devices for the same purpose. Nor, when Iuse electricallycontrolled devices, do I confine myself to acircuit-completing clock of the precise construction shown anddescribed, as the clock may be variously modified without departing frommy invention.

HaVing thus described my invention, I claim as new and wish to secure byLetters Patent- 1. The combination, with a vesselsuch as a boilerand thesupply and discharge pipes thereof, of "electrically-controlled valveson said pipes, an electric circuit, and a clock or clocks adapted toperiodically close and break said circuit in order to open andclose saidvalves successively, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a vesselsuch as a boilerand the supply anddischarge pipes thereof, of the valves on said pipes, the armaturessccured to the valve-stems, the magnets *of, the valves on said pipes,the valve-stems,

the armatures on the endsofsaid valve-stems, respectively, the magnetsadjacent to said armatures, and the electric circuit connected with saidmagnets, of the clock or regulator for successively breaking andcompleting the circuit with said magnets at predetermined intervals, thedial-plate of said clock, a hole or series of hols in said dial-plate inthe path of the hand or bauds of said clock, the pins connected with thecircuit-wires leading from each of said magnets and adapted to beinserted in said hole or holes, the other end of the circuit beingconnected with said bauds, whereby either of the latter, as desired,will in its rotation come into contact with and ride over'said pin orpins, and thus complete and CHARLES JOHN HEXAMER.

Witnesses:

J NO. NOLAN, GEO. W. REED.

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